After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes
by Rabid Ostrich
Summary: When the lifestream ressurects all those who died in the past year, Hojo takes his second chance to finish something he started a long time ago...
1. Destruction of an Empire

The red tornadoes rained down from meteor upon Midgar, tearing pieces from houses and other buildings in their wake. Multiple plates fell, killing anyone taking refuge underneath them. 

AVALANCHE watched in horror from the safety of the Highwind. Cait Sith was babbling about how he told everyone to take cover in the slums…and how they were killed anyway. Suddenly, a bright green light appeared on the horizon. Lifestream. 

Lifestream twisted around and around Meteor, breaking it up into even smaller fragments. The planet began to shake and finally a brilliant flash…Then the planet was still…. 

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

  


**Chapter 1**

When the flash cleared, Midgar was in ruins. Most the plates were downed from the tornadoes. The Highwind circled the area of destruction and surveyed the damage. 

"Shit!" Exclaimed Cid as he got a better view of the area. Cait was in the back sobbing for all the souls lost in the slums. 

"Take 'er down Cid," said Barret solemnly. 

"Eh? Where?" asked Cid. 

"Kalm I suppose." 

"Okay, Kalm it is." he said as they flew off to the small town in the distance. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three months after Meteor was destoryed, A few miles outside of Midgar, a large group of people stood dazed and confused. Among them were President Shinra, Rufus and the other recently deceased executives from the Shinra Electrical Company. 

"What the hell are we doing here? …. And what the hell happened to my beautiful city?!" exclaimed the crotchety old President as he noticed his magnificent city in ruins. His question was soon answered. 

"In the past year, many people have died unreasonably. Therefore, I, the Lifestream, have decided to give you all that were killed within the last year a second chance at life. Use this chance wisely, as I shall not give you another one." said a mysterious, feminine voice. 

Jessie, Biggs and Wedge stood isolated from the rest of the group, on the far side opposite where the Shinra where at. 

"Well, this is just peachy. Now, we got to kill them all over again!" muttered Jessie as she pointed an accusing finger in the Shinra's direction. Biggs just sighed and Wedge glared over at the enemy. 

"So, what now?" asked Wedge. Jessie and Biggs shrugged. "You mean you don't know?!" 

"…" said Jessie. 

"…" agreed Biggs. 

"Well! This is great! How are we going to have lunch?!" 

"…" 

"Well, let's just see here. If that is Midgar…or…was Midgar." Jessie pointed to the flaming heap of a city. "Then, that must be Kalm there…" She pointed to the top of a large tower in the distance. 

The trio started their trek across the plains to the city of Kalm. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are we there yeeeet?! I'm huuuungry" whined Wedge. 

"Bah, that is the 5th time you've asked me this mile. No, we aren't there yet. Are we in the city yet? No, therefore we are NOT in Kalm yet dammit!" replied an irritated Biggs. 

"::Sigh:: Knock it off you two. Jeez, just a few more miles." retorted Jessie. 

"Few more miles?! FEW MORE MILES?! It's been just a few more miles for the last hour and a half!" 

"Biggs, you're flipping out, calm down." 

"No! I refuse to calm down until we get to Kalm." 

"…Guys…?" asked Wedge sheepishly. 

"Biggs, you are acting like a three year old…" 

"Do I care?! Look…see if I care. There, do I look like I care?" Biggs snapped angrily. 

"No Biggs, you don't look like you care, but do us all a favor and SHUT UP!" 

"Jessie…?" nagged Wedge again. 

"WHAT?!" She snapped in response. 

Wedge cringed. "Ya know…I was just thinking. We were killed in Sector 7 right? Well, theoretically…aren't our original bodies still…you know, rotting underneath that plate?" 

"…!" noted Biggs. 

"Oh…eew." agreed Jessie. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"FOOOOOOOOD!" exclaimed a very hungry Wedge. He dashed over to the local restaurant. 

"Dude, we like…have no money." Jessie pointed out. 

"Shit! You're kidding!" said Biggs in a panic. 

"Well, all I got is 10 gil, maybe we can get a meal at the MacShinra." said Jessie as she counted out her gil. 

"Eew! Why not Burger President?" complained Biggs. 

"Food is food…Beggars can't be choosers, Besides, MacShinra is cheaper." stated Jessie flatly. 

"::Incoherent grumble::" 

Jessie grabbed Biggs by the shirt and dragged him off to MacShinra's as Wedge bounded ahead of them. 

"Oo! I'll have one Reactor burger with a large Shinra fry and Mako Dew." 

"Wedge!" snapped Jessie angrily. 

"Yeah?" 

"Does the word budget mean anything to you?" 

"Oh…yeah" 

Just as they sat down with what little food they had and began to divide it up, a large group of people came in, along with a lion thing and a giant white marshmallow with a cat sitting on its head. Jessie picked out a large African American man that looked awfully familiar to her. She thought for a moment then remembered…. 

"Hey! That's Barret!" she exclaimed once it hit her. By this time, they group was having a fight over the no pets allowed policy. Apparently, they considered that red lion thing a pet and didn't want it in there. 

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't allow animals in the restaurant, it's a health issue" stated the frightened manager as Barret threatened to blow his brains out. Jessie chose that moment to go talk to Barret (which wasn't very bright on her part). 

"Barret!" she exclaimed… 

"Bah, leave me alone, 'foo!" 

"…Tifa?" she turned to Tifa for support. 

"…Jessie?" Tifa asked in bewilderment. 

By this time, the red lion thing took the hint and waited patiently outside. Barret turned around and looked straight into Jessie's face. 

"Jessie!" Barret hugged her hard, so hard that she ended up sputtering when he finally let go. "Where'd you come from?" 

"Not sure really…but I'll tell you what, I saw President Shinra and the rest of his minions in a large group along with us outside of Midgar. They looked like those people from Sector 7. Oh, by the way. Midgar is like, a heap of rubble right now. Have you noticed?" she explained. 

"Yeah, we noticed. And 'dat old slime bag's back too. Aw…dammit!" cried an upset Barret. 

Jessie looked at the line of the now impatient customers behind them. "Uhh…why don't we take this somewhere else?" she suggested. 


	2. Reuninon

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 2**

So, now all of AVALANCHE was reunited. All of them were there; Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Cid, Vincent, Yuffie, Cait, Nanaki, Jessie, Biggs and Wedge…everyone except Aeris all crammed into a very small hotel room. Cloud had asked Jessie if she had seen any girl with brown hair in a braid in a pink dress. She shook her head no. 

"Alright Jessie, you say you saw ShinRa scum?" asked Barret impatiently. 

"Yeah, I saw President Shinra and Rufus and Heidegger and Scarlet and- " she started listing all the Shinra executives. Barret cut her short. 

"Alright already! So…we've got ShinRa back." 

"Oooh goodie…" Stated Cait flatly. "Figures. I start rebuilding Midgar and ShinRa just waltzes back in. Why can't they stay dead?" 

"Hey! If they stayed dead, then we would have stayed dead too. Do you want us dead?" retorted Biggs in an irritated tone. 

"Better all of ya' than ShinRa! I don't even know who the @#&$ you are!" screamed Cid. 

Biggs snorted at this comment and started walking toward Cid in an offensive manner. Wedge held him back. "Calm down Biggs…" 

"Calm down!? CALM DOWN?! I'll show him! I'll fix his @#&$ little red wagon is what I'll do!" 

Jessie opened her mouth then shut it. Probably in her best interest to keep her mouth shut. Besides…when Biggs gets THAT red in the face…everyone should get out of his way. "…" 

<15 minutes later> 

Biggs was calmed down…although still slightly on the irritated side. Barret began to explain their current situation. 

"O-Kay. ShinRa is back. Jessie? You said it looked as though they were headed back to Midgar?" Jessie nodded her head. "Peachy…Reeve? Er…Cait? Be expecting company soon." 

"Right-o!" 

"…anyway. We need to stop them! Any ideas?" 

"Well, so far, all of the mako reactors that weren't located in Midgar are still intact and running. Step one would be to blow them up, right?" asked Tifa. 

"Y'know what would be cool? What if we blew up EVERY mako reactor on the plant at the exact same time?" suggested Jessie in excitement. 

"Nah. Let's just forget about them. What can they possibly do? Only about half of the ShinRa building is redone. Reeve hasn't even started on the city itself." Everyone agreed with this suggestion. 


	3. A New Threat

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 3**

President Shinra led his group of executives to the ruined city of Midgar. They had to climb through mountains worth of debris and the President was wheezing like there was no tomorrow while some of the others complained their heads off… 

"DAMMIT! This freakin' sucks! Why don't we have a helicopter?" complained Reno. 

"Well, don't you think…that POSSIBLY, MAYBE it was DESTROYED when the rest of the city was?! Think for once why don't you…" snapped the usually quiet Rude. Obviously he has had enough. 

After 3 hours, the group was standing in front of the Shinra building. It was about 75% finished, judging by the outside. The lower half was being remodeled first, the top 10 floors were still a crumbly mess. The group of Shinra walked inside to the lobby. 

"Hmm…I wonder if my lab is still intact…" wondered Hojo. 

"What's it matter?" asked Rufus. 

"Well, I was working on a new device. Something that could control the WEAPONS of the Planet." 

"Why would you need to control WEAPON?" asked Reno, Tseng promptly thwapped him upside the head. 

"Because, if we could control WEAPON, then nobody could stop us. We could destroy whole cities at our discretion. Construction would be a breeze too!" Tseng explained. 

As the group of Shinra executive members stood around in the lobby dreaming of world domination (once again), Reeve came down the staircase. 

"My, my…what a pleasure it is to see you all again." greeted Reeve with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. 

"Thanks for holding down the fort. I'll be taking over again, thank you very much." sneered Rufus. 

"Sorry son, I'm in control now. You'll get it once I pass away." President Shinra reminded Rufus, then stepped up to Reeve. "Where's my office?" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WHAT?!" screamed an upset Barret. 

"I'm sorry, but that's right, and I can't stop him. What am I going to do, I'm just the head of urban development." Cait Sith 'sighed' as he delivered the bad news. "I also sort of overheard them talking about some kind of device…but I couldn't get all of the data on it. Somewhere in Hojo's lab." 

"But, Hojo's lab was destroyed along with the rest of the building, wasn't it?" asked Tifa. 

"I don't know. I never checked the upper levels." 

"Well, this is just great! Now, we have to deal with Shinra AND one of their messed up inventions! Oh, isn't life great?" said Barret extremely sarcastically. 

"Well, who ever said life was fair?" pointed out Jessie. 

"Can it." 


	4. ShinRa; Back in Power

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

  


**Chapter 4**

Rufus paced around his new office on the 39th floor. It was recently finished, as the scent of new linoleum tinted the air. 

"Dammit! Now that my father's alive, I am just a second rate employee. Being an heir is no fun unless you get what's coming to you. In my case, the entire ShinRa incorporation! There's got to be some way…" 

Rufus stopped pacing for a moment, then sat down in his desk chair and rubbed his chin. 

"Yes! I see…I could kill him. I've been trained as a Turk, it would be as if the Lifestream had never resurrected him. But wait! What about Device? Yes, Device. I'll wait until Hojo finds it, then I'll kill him…" Rufus smiled to himself, then broke into maniacal laughter. "Watch out ol' man, Rufus is gonna get 'cha! Hahahaha!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hojo picked around his destroyed lab. Broken test tubes littered the floor, their contents spilled on the floor. In all, it wasn't as bad as Hojo had thought. He continued to prod around until he came to an armored safe. Hojo put in the combination and opened the safe and took out what was inside. 

"Yes, Device. You have survived a catastrophe greater than no planet has ever seen. I'm so proud of you." Hojo hugged his controller. "I must report back to the President. He will be pleased." 

Hojo took Device up to the 39th floor to President ShinRa's office, right next door to Rufus' office. He knocked on the door. 

"Come in." 

Hojo walked in the door. "Sorry to bother you sir, but, I found Device." 

"Great! How close is it to completion?" asked the President with great excitement. 

Rufus overheard the conversation through the air duct. He went over to the opening on the ceiling and stood on his chair to get a better listen. 

"About 80%, I've still got to make a few adjustments. Don't worry sir, it will be done soon enough." 

"Great! I've ordered an office for you. It isn't a lab, but you can do small mechanics in there. It is on the 40th floor. Here's the key." President ShinRa tossed a key in Hojo's direction. 

"Thank you sir. I won't let you down." Hojo caught the key, bowed and left. 


	5. Planning Session

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 5**

"This is happening all to fast," said Vincent, who was playing paddleball in the corner of the hotel recreation room they were staying in. "Midgar and Meteor were destroyed only four months ago and ShinRa is already back in power." 

Just then, Cait Sith walked into the room and addressed everyone. "Hey, listen up. I've got some more news." 

"Don't tell me, let me guess…they found that invention thingy and the world is now doomed…" said Cloud sarcastically. 

"Hey! How'd ya guess?!" asked Cait in surprise. 

"You mean the world IS doomed?!" 

"Well, no, but they found the thing. They call it Device, but I still don't know what it does." 

"Oh…goodie." stated Biggs flatly as he sipped a can of soda. "What good does it do if we don't even know what it does. Couldn't you ask or something?" 

"Yeah, and what good will that do? I'm a traitor in their eyes." Cait 'sighed' once again and plopped down onto the floor. "No matter WHAT it does, we've got to get that thing. Whatever it is, it is probably made for world domination or something like that. If I know ShinRa, it isn't something made to help the people of the Planet." 

"When you're right, you're right. And you, you're always right. Eavesdropping is so much fun…" Yuffie stated. 

"Spoken from a true master…" Cloud rolled his eyes. Yuffie had intruded on more of his conversations to Tifa more times than he would even want to remember. 

"That's beside the point. We've got to get that thing. When do we leave?" Red said as he got up from his place by the fireplace. 

"Tomorrow sounds good, but we can't move in a group. That's the last thing we want to do. We can do 2 groups of 4 and one of 3." Tifa said. "Jessie, Biggs, Wedge, and Barret, you are group one. Cloud, Cait and I will be group two. Red, Vincent, Yuffie and Cid, you will be group 3." 

"But! Why the @#$*% do I have to be stuck with that #@^$ brat?!" complained Cid. 

"Oh, that is SO not very nice. I feel offended." Yuffie stuck her tongue out at Cid. 

"Because, you just are. Now, let's get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow." Tifa said goodnight to her colleagues and headed up to her room. The others headed to their respected rooms, except for Jessie. She stood at the window, looking out at the setting sun. Biggs stopped at the foot of the stairs and turned around. 

"Something wrong, Jessie?" he asked then walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Oh, it's nothing." Jessie brushed his hand off and headed up the stairs. 


	6. The Infiltration

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 6**

Hojo worked hard into the night on Device. He sat in his new office in his new office chair at his new desk with various nuts, bolts and wires all over the desk. Hojo tweaked at the entrails of his creation with a screwdriver. 

"Just one more wire to go…" he said to himself. "Eureka! I am a genius!" He held up Device and admired it. "The President will be very pleased. I might even get a raise, or better…a PROMOTION!" Hojo cackled to himself. He put Device in a safe and locked it. The lights flicked off as Hojo left the room and hit the switch on the way out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AVALANCHE rose bright an early in the morning and met in the lobby of the hotel. They headed out to the Kalm Rent-a-Chocobo and headed off to Midgar. They stopped at the gates to Sector 5. 

"How the hell did they get through THAT?!" asked Wedge, gesturing to the wreckage. 

"Who knows, but the Chocobos can take it..." said Cloud and with that he kicked the bird in the ribs and it headed off over the debris field. The others followed and in no time flat, they were at the front door of the newly finished lobby of the ShinRa building. AVALANCHE tied up their respective chocobos and Cloud walked up to the lobby's sliding glass doors. 

"Wait Cloud. Reeve probably installed cameras. Better not go in the front entrance…" warned Tifa. 

"Very good Tifa, I DID install video cameras…" piped up Cait triumphantly. 

"Let's just go the way we did last time." Barret said. 

"Oh no…not the stairs AGAIN!" complained Cloud. Tifa, Barret and Cloud winced at the thought of having to go through that again. 

"No choice." Barret said and headed for the back stairs. 

"Dammit." 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The eleven AVALANCHE members ran up the stairs. About 15 floors in, they started to slow down…and about 20 floors up, they were practically crawling up the stairs. 

"This…isn't….fun." noted Wedge, who was huffing and wheezing. 

"No….shit….Sherlock…" retorted an equally tired Biggs as he collapsed on the 21st staircase. 

Cloud casually walked by them. "Aw, this is nothing. You guys were out of shape from the start." About ten deathglares were now pointed in his general direction. "What? Was it something I said?" 

"Cait, what floor are the offices on?" inquired Tifa. 

"Thirty-nine. Hojo's is on the fortieth." 

"Aw…man…" whined Wedge as he looked up the stairs. 

The next 10 minutes were filled with huffs, puffs, and wheezing as AVALANCHE ever so slowly made their way up the staircase. Finally, the first of them, Cloud, came to the door marked '39' and reached for the handle. 

"So what are ya' gonna do, just waltz right on in their and say 'May I please have Device so that we can destory it along with any hope for world domination?'?" I don't think so, hot shot…" said Barret as he knocked Cloud's hand away from the knob. 

"It should be okay. They don't wake up until noon, we've still got 3 hours. I haven't hired any guards yet so, that should be a problem. Hojo probably has Device in his office, on floor 40." Cait Sith informed. AVALANCHE broke into their respective groups and Barret opened the door a crack and peered out. 

"Coast is clear…" he announced and they stepped out into the hallway. "Okay, we each go our separate ways. Rendezvous on the 40th floor, now, let's go…" 


	7. The Cubicle Farm

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

  


**Chapter 7**

Barret lead his group through the center of the 39th floor. They were surrounded on either side by rows upon rows of office doors, both occupied and vacant. The floor was deserted, only the sound of their shoes upon the new linoleum sounded through the hallway. 

"Man, it stinks in here…" complained Wedge quietly. 

"It is just new linoleum, I kind of like the smell actually…" Jessie said, then grinned as she sniffed the air. 

"Don't get high off it now…" Biggs joked then nudged her in the shoulder. They all snickered quietly, all except Barret. 

"Keep it down you idiots!" he snapped in a whisper. The snickering halted and they continued to creep down the hallway to the stairs leading to the 40th floor. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cloud, Tifa and Cait edged down the right wall of the floor. 

"We must be very, very quiet…" started Cait. 

"Because we're huntin' wabbits!" finished Cloud, then he snickered. Tifa conked him on the head. 

"Shh! There could be people still in the cubicles. I installed beds in those offices and the walls aren't exactly soundproof." 

"Why did you install beds when there is a staff dormitory?" asked Tifa. 

"I just found it more convenient." 

"Oh…" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Group three quietly tiptoed down their side of the floor. Yuffie, toward the back, had her eye on Cid's materia on the Dragoon Lance tied to his back. Yuffie quietly slid up behind Cid and put a hand on his spear, trying to get the glowing orbs of magic out. Cid felt his weapon being slightly jostled around on his back, whirred around and began to open his mouth when Vincent hurried over and put his hand over Cid's mouth. Any vulgar protest Cid had came out in an angry muffle. 

"Quiet you idiot! You could get us caught. Chances are they have sound detectors in here." Vincent hissed. "Yuffie, back off…" 

Yuffie looked at Vincent with innocent eyes. "I wasn't doing nothin', I just bumped into him…" 

Cid retorted with an angry muffle. Vincent sighed. 

"Let's go, we are almost there…" Red whispered and the group traveled on. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Group three reached the 40th floor first. They hurried off of the staircase and into the shadows to wait for the others. Group one was next and they hid where group three was. Finally, Cloud led his group up the stairs. Now that they were all reunited, they had to come up with a plan of action. 

"Simple enough, now what?" asked Jessie. 

"Cait, which one is his and how do we get in?" asked Barret. 

Cait grinned and pulled a card key from out of a pocket in his mog. "Skeleton key, can open anything in this entire building. Hojo's is that one over there." Cait pointed to a door on the far side of the floor with a number 148 on the door. Cait hopped out from behind the office they were hiding behind and bounded off to office 148 and slid the card key through the scanner. The light went green and he stepped inside. "Well, come on!" 

The rest of the group ran over to the open door and stepped inside. Cait flipped on the light switch and the room was flooded with light. 

"I'm guessing that it is in here…" noted Biggs as he poked at the safe behind Hojo's desk. "How are we going to open it?" 

Cait held up the card key, and slid it through a scanner in the back. "I said this thing would open anything." 

"Stop right there…" came a voice from the door. All 11 of them stopped what they were doing and turned to the voice. There was Hojo, standing in the doorway. 


	8. Caught

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 8**

Barret cocked his gun as Hojo grinned a crooked grin at them. Biggs quickly opened the safe and took out the remote. 

"Ha, you think that is Device don't you? Well, you are wrong." Hojo cackled evilly, then reached into his lab coat pocket and produced a remote control looking exactly like the one Biggs was holding. "I knew you were coming. And I KNEW that eavesdropper Reeve knew all about Device. I figured that two-timing back stabber would go and tell his friends all about my intentions. 

"Alright Hojo, what's your scheme this time?" sneered Cloud. 

"Oh, so you want to know, eh? Well, I'll tell you. But first, put down your weapons…" 

Barret reluctantly put his gun down, and the others put away their weapons. Hojo began with his story. 

"It all started after WEAPON awoke. I knew the power that these machines possessed. I figured, that if there was some way for me to harness their power, there would be no way ShinRa could be stopped, even by you. Unfortunately, I was stopped in my tracks after you killed me when Device was only 80% finished. I thoughtfully put Device in an armored safe before my death, however, and it survived Meteor's attack. Now that I have been resurrected, courtesy of the Lifestream, I can resume my project and take over the world once again!" 

"You snake!" hissed Barret. 

"Oh, I haven't even gotten to the good part yet. You see this? This invention is powerful enough for me to manipulate the WEAPONs and with one press of this button, the world shall be mine!" 

"Don't you even dare…" warned Barret. An audible click echoed off the room's walls. 

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you…" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rufus stirred from his slumber and fumbled on his nightstand for the on switch for his lamp. He grinned as he got up and put on his white coat over his black shirt. Rufus opened the top drawer of his dresser and took out a handgun. 

"It's time. Time to say goodbye to my dear ol' daddy." Rufus sneered to himself as he left the room. Rufus took the key to his father's quarters and swiped it through the scanner. The light blinked green and the door soundlessly slid open. Rufus scooted into the room and around the corner. He took a good look at his father, who was peacefully sleeping on the fold-up bed. Rufus loaded his gun, took the safety off and aimed for his father's head. 

"Goodbye, father." Rufus whispered as he pulled the trigger. The bullet went right into the President's brain, and he didn't wake up. Rufus went over to check his vital signs. There were none. The President was dead, and the heir to the throne, Rufus, was now in power once again. 


	9. Beginning of the End

### After Meteor: Rise from the Ashes

**Chapter 9**

The shot rung out and was heard on the 40th floor. Barret was distracted and lowered his gun for just a moment. That moment was long enough for Hojo to push the button on Device. An earth-shattering rumble shook the building as stuff went everywhere as AVALANCHE lost their balance and toppled onto one another in one giant dogpile. Hojo stood in the doorway, grinning, his face eerily lit by the dim light. He cackled evilly and left. 

"Shit! WEAPON is coming!" cried Biggs. 

"Not if I can help it…" said Cloud as he got up and rushed out the door and into the hallway. Hojo had just run around the corner and Cloud followed him. He soon caught up to Hojo, being younger than Hojo and slid in front of him. "Not so fast…" 

"Oooh, I am SOO scared." sneered Hojo sarcastically. The rumble grew louder and was felt more intensely. Cloud made a grab for Device, but Hojo easily evaded and threw a ball containing a pink liquid on the ground. A large white cloud engulfed the two and Hojo fled the opposite direction as Cloud coughed in the dust. Hojo was soon stopped as Jessie plowed right into him. Device went flying over Jessie's head and landed at Cid's feet. Cid picked it up and hit the 'off' button and the rumbling stopped. 

"Damn you!" cursed Hojo. He pushed Jessie out of the way and dove for Cid, but Cid took out his Dragoon Lance and speared Hojo right through the heart. Blood went everywhere as Hojo's lifeless body slid to the floor. 

"Wow, nice going, Cid!" complemented Jessie as she got up and brushed herself off. She turned to Cait. "Reeve, where are you now?" 

"I'm outside Midgar. You got Device just in time, I see the WEAPON's on the horizon now." Cait answered. 

"Well, let's blow this Popsicle stand and blow up ShinRa!" cried Barret. 

"What was that gunshot anyhow?" asked Tifa. 

"Who the hell cares, let's go!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AVALANCHE tore through the lobby and outside to where their chocobos were waiting, tied to some railing. Each member untied and mounted their respective chocobos and headed for the outskirts of Midgar. Once there, they saw Reeve and waved to him. 

"Glad you made it. I hope you won't get mad if we destroy Midgar again…" Cloud said to him. 

"No, actually, I'd be glad. I probably shouldn't have even tried to rebuild it. Go right ahead." 

Cid took Device from his coat pocket. 

"Wait Cid. If you hit that button now, WEAPON is going to trample us. Let's watch the show from Kalm." noted Jessie. Reeve climbed up onto Cait's chocobo and they rode off to Kalm. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Kalm, the group of 11 chocobos and their riders came into town and rode over to the Kalm Rent-a-Chocobo. After that was done, they all went up to the clock tower to get a better glimpse of the re-destruction of Midgar and ShinRa. 

"Okay Cid, press it." Barret told Cid. Cid pressed the button and the WEAPONs came alive once again and proceeded to advance toward Midgar. The earth rumbled violently as all of the WEAPONs slammed head on into the city. 

After the WEAPONs have done their duty and the ShinRa building had been reduced to rubble once again, Cid set the coordinates on Device for the ocean canyon and pressed the button. The WEAPONs slowly walked into the ocean, where they disappeared beneath the waves. 


End file.
